It’s hard to imagine what pitch got Academy Award winner Matt Damon on board for another “Bourne” movie. In order to make “Jason Bourne,” the fifth in the franchise but the fourth to star Damon, you need a new story to tell, a new wrinkle to iron out. Certainly in the nine years since Jason Bourne last graced the big screen, a lot has changed—social media is much more prevalent, and privacy is a bigger concern than ever before. Both of these cultural shifts are addressed in “Jason Bourne,” but they don’t modify the DNA of a series that has gone completely stale.

What happens?

Jason Bourne (Damon) has been off the grid for a long time. He’s fighting in shady, underground rings in Greece until Nicky (Julia Stiles—hey, girl, where you been?) brings him a flash drive with information about his past. Was his father actually the creator of the Treadstone program? Bourne sets out to find out more about his father and his own recruitment into the program, clashing with CIA agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) and director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones).

What’s good?

Director Paul Greengrass hasn’t forgotten how to direct a “Bourne” movie. A lot has changed since 2007, but “Jason Bourne” replicates the style of the original trilogy to the point that the film is transportive. The fight scenes and car chases are just as they always were; the shaky cam and quick pans as confident as ever. Damon knows how to play Bourne, but there’s not much for him to do here with fewer than 30 lines.

What’s bad?

“Jason Bourne” suffers desperately from a lack of creativity and even effort. The whole thing is a retread, with no new story or idea to propel the audience through action sequence after action sequence. Everything—from the clunky dialogue to the fact that the flash drive actually has the word “Encrypted” spelled out in huge letters on it—is mindless and cheap. Vikander is a talented actress, but even she can’t make her poorly drawn character work (or do an American accent, apparently).

Final verdict

If you’re desperate to feel like it’s 2007, fine, but otherwise this movie is waste of everyone’s time.